In an event that would send the son of the first Mayor of Boston to make abolitionist speeches across the country, the Boston Slave Riot sewed the spirit of Abolitionism even deeper into the North. With the riots transforming writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau into passionate Abolitionists, Thoreau even going so far as to encourage civil disobedience, the anti-slavery sentiments across the North began to grow rapidly, mounting the tensions between them and the pro-slavery South.
Boston Slave Riot Summary
After the false arrest of a previously enslaved man, Anthony Burns, local Boston Abolitionists turned up in order to attempt to free Burns and overpower the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. With the Kansas Nebraska Act passing earlier in 1854, Northerners were nervous that pro-slavery ideals would start seeping into their territories, as Kansas appeared as though it would become a pro-slavery state.
Just three months before the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Kansas became a free state, throwing off the balance of influence between slave and free states in the country. By its ending in 1865, the anti-slavery North had won the war, abolishing slavery forever across the country. Though the battle at the Boston Slave Riots was lost and Anthony Burns was sent back to Virginia with his owner, the ideology of the North went on to win the war.
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed on September 18th, 1850, along with the Compromise of 1850 between pro-slave-holding Southerners and Northern "Free Soilers." This Act required that along with the capture of runaway slaves, they also must be returned to their owners even if it was a free state they had escaped to. This act contributed to the North's fear of Southern slave-holding ideals becoming a part of their territories.
Despite being found guilty of his false crimes and being sent back to Virginia, Abolitionists in Boston kept close contact with Burns and eventually raised enough money to buy his freedom and return him to Boston.
Boston Slave Riot Timeline
| Date | Event |
| May 24th, 1854 | - 19-year-old Anthony Burns is arrested on Court Street on a false jewelry theft charge
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| May 25th, 1854 | - 42-year-old Wendell Phillips, son of Boston's first Mayor, is horrified at the news of Burns' arrest.
- Phillips rushed to the courthouse and convinced Burns to allow Richard Henry Dana Jr. to help his case
- Phillips gave a speech to the crowd that gathered outside of Faneuil Hall, requesting 500 volunteers to come back in the oncoming days to surround Hall while the trial was in session
- Unknown to Phillips, another Abolitionist by the name of Thomas Wentworth Higginson had purchased axes and gathered men to also plan an attack on Faneuil Hall
- The attacks resulted in the death of a guard in the melee and a failed attempt to free the wrongly convicted Anthony Burns
|
| May 29th, 1854 | - Dana Jr. pleaded Burns' innocence for 4.5 hours over a 4-day trial, but to no avail
- The court at Faneuil Hall decided that Burns was guilty and was to be sent back to Virginia with his master, following the rules of the Fugitive Slave Law
|
June 2nd, 1854 | - The governor of Massachusetts places Boston under Martial Law; with thousands of troops entering the city to restore and maintain order
- As the guards walked Anthony Burns to the ship that would return him to Virginia, a crowd of around 50,000 were spitting and screaming at the soldiers "Shame!".
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Fig. 1- Wendell Phillips
Martial Law: the implementation of military control by the government in response to emergencies where civil forces may be overwhelmed.
Boston Slave Riot: Anthony Burns
A key figure during the Boston Slave Riot was Anthony Burns. Read below to learn more about this important figure.
Escape from Slavery
Anthony Burns was born into slavery in Stafford County, Virginia in 1834. His mother was also enslaved by his master, John Suttle. William Brent, who was the family's former master, was hired by Suttle to manage the renting out of his slaves for labor. Upon sustaining an injury at a sawmill that badly mangled one of his ha
Fig. 2.- Anthony Burnsnds, 15-year-old Anthony Burns was sent to work elsewhere. After arriving in Richmond, Virginia, Burns slowly befriended the sailors he worked around, who eventually convinced him to escape on a boat heading North.
In early February of 1854, Anthony Burns boarded a boat that took him to Boston, where he worked odd jobs in order to sustain himself. On the journey North, he suffered intense dehydration, starvation, and seasickness. His friend could only open the small compartment he was hidden in to give him food and water every few days; just enough to keep him alive. They finally reached Boston in late February or early March, where Burns made the mistake of writing to his currently enslaved brother in Virginia. Suttle found the letters from Burns and followed the address to Boston where he went to reclaim him under the Fugitive Slave Law.
Boston Slave Riot Arrest
After watching him work the entire day at a clothing store, police arrested Burns after he and his co-worker parted ways upon closing the store. Thinking it was only a false charge of jewelry theft and he would be able to explain his innocence, Burns was shocked to see federal soldiers waiting for him in Faneuil Hall.
During his 4-day trial, crowds of hundreds surrounded the Hall, attempting to free him from his trial and oncoming sentence. Wendell Phillips, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Richard Henry Dana Jr. worked tirelessly in an attempt to reverse the power of the Fugitive Slave Law, but to no avail. Burns was to be sent back to Virginia on the 2nd of June 1854.
While being led to the ship, soldiers that were leading him away were viciously screamed at and spit on by angry Boston Abolitionists. Burns held his head high the entire time.
Fig. 3- Anthony Burns being led away by Federal troops while Abolitionists protest
Boston Slave Riot Abolitionist
- Aftermath of the Boston Slave Riot:
- Wendell Phillips fell into a deep depression after Anthony Burns was taken back to Virginia and the two wrote to each other often in order to keep up to date.
- Phillips finally rose out of his saddened state, he was more determined than ever before to spread Abolitionism
- Phillips travelled into the Ohio Valley and all around the Great Lakes giving speeches
- Burns was bought by a man named David McDaniel, who sold him to Abolitionists for the price of $1,300
- Burns was finally free and was returned to Boston where Phillips had arranged for him to attend Oberlin College
- Burns would graduate and become a Baptist Minister but would tragically die due to Tuberculosis at the age of 28
Boston Slave Riot Effects
The Boston Slave Riot not only helped spread Abolitionist ideology but also helped inspire other raids as well, such as the John Brown Raid of Harpers Ferry in 1858. As Abolitionism swept through the North, tensions with the South reached a breaking point. Upon the election of Republican President Abraham Lincoln, Southern states began to announce their secession from the Union. Lincoln's first priority was keeping the Union intact, and he was ready to go to war to do so.
The Civil War began in April 1861 and lasted until April 1865 with Lincoln slowly chipping away at the South's pro-slavery economy over the years in order to gain an upper hand. After the Union Army claimed victory, Southern states were forced to remain a part of the Union, and slavery was permanently abolished through the passing of the 13th Amendment.
Though Abolitionism lost many small battles, it was strong enough to win an entire war, granting freedom to thousands of African Americans.
Boston Slave Riot - Key takeaways
- The Boston Slave Riots began due to a false arrest of 19-year-old Anthony Burns, who had previously escaped his enslavement in Virginia.
- The riots challenged the role of the Fugitive Slave Act in the North.
- Abolitionists from Boston surrounded the courthouse during Burns' trial to attempt to free him from prosecution.
- Though Anthony Burns was found guilty on the false charges of jewelry theft and deported back to Virginia with his master, he stayed in touch with Wendell Phillips who helped raise money to buy his freedom.
- The Boston Slave Riots sewed Abolitionist ideology into the North and inspired many more protests and riots across the country before the Civil War broke out in 1861.
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